Photo of John Healy taken one month after being named Chief of Denver Fire Department. September 1912. Denver Post File Photo

For 33 years, Chief John F. Healy ruled the Denver Fire Department. He joined the department in 1894 just as it emerged from a volunteer organization into the paid firefighter, horse-drawn engine and gong era.

From private he went to lieutenant, then to captain, then to assistant chief and on August 1, 1912 to chief. He held the position until his death in 1945.

Half a dozen times in his career as chief he was overcome by smoke so badly that he was hospitalized for weeks. Once he was off active duty for a year because of injuries to his lungs from acid fumes.

According to several stories, the arrival of the motor driven fire engines saddened Healy because of his affection for the horses. But he soon grew to value the speed and power of the new engines. He’d hold the steering wheel in the same giddy up fashion as he did the horse reigns. (The fire horses were officially retired in 1924.)

Four specially designed roadsters that could go 60 miles per hour were put into service on February 12, 1913 for the four assistant chiefs of the fire department. The lower half of the picture shows Healy and his assistants. Left to right are Assistant Chief Joseph Troy, Assistant Chief Patrick Boyne, Chief John Healy, Assistant Chief Albert L. Graeber and Assistant Chief Victor Roberts. Denver Post File Photo

Chief John Healy with his chauffeur standing by the new car put into service in February 1928. Denver Post File Photo

The public loved and respected him, although some in the department considered him a tyrant. But Healy never demanded of his men what he himself was not willing to do. He was there on the freezing night when an alarm sounded from the lower end of Wyncoop Street for an acetylene gas explosion and fire.

He was at the Spratlen-Anderson fire when 35 firemen fell unconscious from burning rope fumes. He was also present at the Turner Hall fire in 1920, when the walls of the building at 20th and Arapahoe streets fell out and down igniting everything in their track. Always, Healy worked beside his men through the heat, smoke and fumes.

Chief Healy accepts silver loving cup presented by Chairman W.P. McPhee of the Manager of Safety Advisory Board. The cup was won by the firemen shown in background at an athletic tournament at City Park. September 24, 1921. Denver Post File Photo

Castle Rock Firefighters Lt John Liveris, right, and Seth Roan put a line around a house on Rainbow road as flames advance over the ridge in the North Rainbow Falls Park subdivision. The crews successfully saved this house.

Colorado has seen its fair share of forest fires blown up to disastrous proportions by high winds. One of the most destructive was the Hayman wildfire in June, 2002. It burned 100,000 acres and dozens of homes. It was an arson by a former forest service employee.
Another fire on difficult terrain was the Big Elk fire west of the town of Lyons, also occurring in the hot, dry summer of 2002. It was started by a discarded cigarette.